Judge orders mental exam for Cole bombing suspect

FORT MEADE — A military judge at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in Cuba is ordering a mental health examination for a prisoner accused of orchestrating the attack on the USS Cole.

Army Col. James Pohl issued the order Monday for an exam to determine whether Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri is mentally competent to participate in his defense.

Prosecutors sought the exam. Al-Nashiri’s lawyers say it should be done with sensitivity to his history of being waterboarded and threatened with a gun and power drill while he was being held by the CIA in a series of secret prisons.